Man City's Trumpian tactics what happens if you invite a tiger in for tea

As club’s powerful owners rail against ‘the elites’ in legal battle with Premier League, there is a looming danger to the game 

Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of Manchester City, and Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, poses for a photo with the Premier League title trophy following the team's victory in the Premier League match between Manchester City and West Ham United at Etihad Stadium on May 19, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Here we are then, at last. The chrysalis has finally hatched. The thing that was always going to be the thing has now become the thing. Welcome to a very Premier League kind of coup.

As news emerged of Manchester City’s potentially devastating legal case against English football’s top tier it was tempting to see a kind of parable. Here we have a league founded out of greed, for the future benefit of greed, which now finds itself threatened with internal detonation by – yes – greed. Invite a tiger in for tea and the tiger might be fun. But it’s also still a tiger. And in the end it’s going to eat you too.